The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, is pleased to announce that Ben Hodges (editor, Theater World) and Abby Marcus (managing director, Vampire Cowboys) are the new co-chairs of the Honorary Award committee, filling the vacancy left by Leonard Jacobs (Clyde Fitch Report). The Innovative Theatre Foundation recognizes and appreciates the five years of service and dedication by Mr. Jacobs.
The applications for the 2010 Honorary Awards are available online and are due by 6pm on May 1, 2010.
The Honorary Awards Committee is comprised of people deeply grounded in the Off-Off-Broadway community. This year, the committee welcomes two new members; performance artist, Desiree Burch and publicist, Katie Rosin. A complete list of committee members is available on the IT Awards website at: www.nyitawards.com/aboutus/hac.asp.
?I am thrilled to be Co-Chairing the Honorary Awards Committee this season,? said Abby Marcus. ?As a past honorary award recipient - my company, Vampire Cowboys, was awarded the Caffe Cino Fellowship in 2006 - I know firsthand how meaningful and special these awards are to the OOB community. I look forward to helping the New York Innovative Theatre Awards continue their good work in providing recognition and honor to companies and artists working in Off-Off-Broadway.?
Over the past six years, the IT Awards have honored over 600 of the brightest and most influential artists from the Off-Off-Broadway community.
The Honorary Awards are:
* The Artistic Achievement Award, presented to an individual who has made a significant artistic contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community;
* The Stewardship Award, presented to an individual or organization demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership;
* The Caffe Cino Fellowship Award, presented to an Off-Off-Broadway theatre company that consistently produces outstanding work. This award also includes a grant ($1,000-$5,000) to be used toward an Off-Off-Broadway production.
Previous recipients include:
2005
Artistic Achievement - Basil Twist
Stewardship Award - Ellen Stewart, LaMaMa, ETC.
Caffe Cino Fellowship ? Inverse Theater Company
2006
Artistic Achievement - Tom O?Horgan
Stewardship Award - The Field
Caffe Cino Fellowship - Vampire Cowboys
2007
Artistic Achievement - Doric Wilson
Stewardship Award - Alliance of Resident Theatres/NY
Caffe Cino Fellowship - Rising Phoenix Repertory
2008
Artistic Achievement - Judith Malina
Stewardship Award - Martin & Rochelle Denton, New York Theatre Experience
Caffe Cino Fellowship - Boomerang Theatre Company
2009
Artistic Achievement ? Maria Irene Fornes
Stewardship Award ? Materials for the Arts
Caffe Cino Fellowship ? The Brick Theater, Inc.
?It is a great honor to be thought of in the same breath as Caffe Cino, the birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway. Much in the same way that Joe Cino?s legendary coffeehouse became an accidental theater hub, The Brick quickly became something more than we planned. Now we?ve grown into a busy theater community, with year-round plays, festivals, late-night events and we?ve hosted hundreds of theater artists in the seven years since our founding. We?re very excited that the IT Awards recognized and supports our commitment to keep at it.? -- Michael Gardner, The Brick Theater, Inc.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ben Hodges (Co-Chair of the Honorary Awards Committee) is editor in chief of the Special Tony Honor Award?winning Theatre World, which, at sixty-six years of age, is the most complete annual pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions. Ben served as executive producer of the Theatre World Awards for Outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway Debuts from 2002-2007 and was presented with a 2003 Special Theatre World Award in recognition of his ongoing stewardship of the event. Ben has also served as executive producer LAMBDA Literary Foundation ?Lammy? Awards, given for excellence in LGBT publishing. His independent theatrical publications include The American Theatre Wing Presents: The Play That Changed My Life: America?s Foremost Playwrights on the Plays That Influenced Them, The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals, Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay and Lesbian Plays from the Twentieth Century, and Outplays: Pioneering Gay and Lesbian Plays from the Twentieth Century.
